Wudu Steps: How to Perform Wudu Step by Step

Wudu steps, in order: make the intention, say Bismillah, then wash the hands, mouth, nose, face and arms, wipe the head and ears, and wash the feet. You need wudu (ablution) before salah, and the Quran names its core parts directly (Quran 5:6).

What the Quran requires

O you who have believed, when you rise to [perform] prayer, wash your faces and your forearms to the elbows and wipe over your heads and wash your feet to the ankles.

Quran 5:6

Every school treats these four as obligatory: the face, the arms to the elbows, wiping the head, and the feet to the ankles. The rest of the steps below come from the way the Prophet ﷺ made wudu. The Hanafi school counts them as sunnah, and the other schools make some of them obligatory as well, the intention among them.

Wudu step by step

1. 1

   Make the intention. Intend in your heart that you're making wudu for prayer. It doesn't need to be said aloud (Bukhari 1, Muslim 1907).

2. 2

   Say Bismillah. The Prophet ﷺ said there is no wudu for someone who doesn't mention Allah's name over it (Abu Dawud 101, Tirmidhi 25).

3. 3

   Wash both hands. Wash up to the wrists three times, getting water between the fingers (Bukhari 159, Tirmidhi 39).

4. 4

   Rinse the mouth. Three times (Bukhari 185, Muslim 235).

5. 5

   Rinse the nose. Three times. Draw the water in with your right hand and blow it out with your left (Bukhari 185, Nasa'i 91).

6. 6

   Wash the face. Three times (Bukhari 159). Scholars define the face as hairline to chin and ear to ear.

7. 7

   Wash the arms. Up to and including the elbows, three times, the right arm first and then the left (Muslim 226).

8. 8

   Wipe the head. With wet hands, wipe from the front of the head to the back and return to the front (Bukhari 185, Muslim 235). Most scholars wipe once, as in Abu Dawud 111; the Shafi'i school recommends three times.

9. 9

   Wipe the ears. Index fingers inside the ears and thumbs behind them (Nasa'i 102).

10. 10

    Wash the feet. Up to and including the ankles, three times, right foot first, getting water between the toes (Bukhari 159, Muslim 226, Tirmidhi 39).

Washing each part once is valid. The Prophet ﷺ made wudu washing once, twice and three times, and three is the sunnah (Bukhari 157, 158, 159).

The dua after wudu

The Prophet ﷺ said that whoever makes wudu well and then says this will have the eight gates of Paradise opened for him, to enter by whichever he wishes (Muslim 234).

What breaks wudu

• Anything that leaves the front or back passage, such as urine, stool or wind (Quran 5:6, Bukhari 135).
• Deep sleep (Abu Dawud 203).
• The schools differ on other things, including touching the private parts, bleeding and eating camel meat. Follow the school you practise.

Checked against its sources on 2026-10-17. Where the schools of fiqh differ, follow the one you practise.